Interesting features, Lisbon

It was our first visit to Lisbon. the month was June; almost summer. Here are a few of the features which caught my fancy; which are different from what I see in India; and generally what I noticed. 

In the Lisbon airport there are these quirky artwork on the walls. Beige coloured stone tile cladded walls have cartoony art in white and black. I found it very cool.Without this artwork, the space would have been dull and boring.

  

True for a lesser degree was the artwork on the walls along the roads. You may call them mural art. While decorating the plain walls, they also provide opportunities for artist / students to exhibit their talent.

Without a sense of aesthetic the same could become graffiti like in the picture below. Instead of enhancing the looks, graffiti defaces the surfaces on which they are painted.

In the older part of Lisbon, Some of the old stone walls have lost the plastering. The stone masonry is exposed and is visible. The walls look authentic. Different coloured stones add their own charm to the entire thing.

 

Many of the streets in the older part of Lisbon are paved in cobble stones. Cobble stone paving is very effective on sloping sites. They are anti-slip; add a charming look to the boring street surface. On the negative side is the unevenness of the road surface makes for painful walking and tough on the tyres too. 

These steps leading to Praca do Rossio or Praca Dom Pedro, from Rossio, have limes tone cobbles, with a band of rectangular stone for the riser. Very unusual I felt, but perfect for the steps.

 

Not all streets are for vehicular traffic. Some of the buildings on the sloping sites are connected by stairs. These are meant for pedestrians only, and they are usually short cuts between two major streets. 

There seems to be multiple uses for walls, besides enclosing the buildings, they are also used for hanging street lights, potted plants etc. Quaint and very pretty; especially useful where open land is a premium...

 

Ah, look at the lovely red tiled roofs!! Such a pretty picture!! When on undulating ground, the roofs are at different heights.

 

Tram 28 is a special feature of Lisbon. A tour of Lisbon is never complete without a ride in the tram. During the tourist season, there will be long queues. One should be prepared to wait. At places the tram goes dangerously close to the buildings. But riding a tram is a lot of fun. The driver was very strict about getting in from the front and getting off from back.

 

There are 3 wheelers in the tourist areas called TukTuk. One can hire one for a reasonable fair. There were a fair number of women drivers for TukTuks. Since we had the Lisbon card (which does not cover the TukTuk), we did not travel by a TukTuk. 

It was thrilling to see the ripe oranges on the trees. Some ripe oranges had fallen on the ground too. I ate some of the tastiest ornages in Portugal on this trip.

Portugal seems to be taking its garbage disposal pretty seriously. There were different bins for different types of items. We found a bin for old / used batteries and cells. how good is that! separating the toxic from non-toxic...